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GAO-13-316R:
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
March 6, 2013:
Congressional Requesters:
Subject: Use of Remanufactured Parts in the Federal Vehicle Fleet Is
Based On a Variety of Factors:
In fiscal year 2011, federal civilian agencies reported about $975
million in maintenance and repair costs for approximately 588,000
vehicles that the agencies owned.[Footnote 1] These vehicles can be
maintained and repaired using new or remanufactured parts. While there
is no standard definition of a remanufactured vehicle part, the
Federal Acquisition Regulation defines remanufactured parts as factory
rebuilt to original specifications.[Footnote 2] Remanufactured vehicle
parts tend to be less expensive than comparable new parts. The
principal remanufactured products in the motor vehicle sector are
engines, transmissions, starter motors, alternators, steering racks,
and clutches, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission.
[Footnote 3]
Given the potential for cost savings from using remanufactured parts
in the federal fleet, you asked us to examine this issue. Thus, this
report describes (1) the vehicle repair process for selected agencies,
including the use of remanufactured parts, and (2) the factors that
agency officials consider when deciding whether to use new or
remanufactured parts for repairs.
To perform our work, we reviewed the General Services Administration
(GSA), the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), and the Departments of
Agriculture (USDA), Homeland Security (DHS), the Interior (DOI), and
Justice (DOJ). These six federal entities accounted for 95 percent of
the civilian federal fleet vehicles in 2011. Because the four
departments decentralize fleet management to their component agencies,
we selected three agencies within each department with large fleets.
In total, we selected 14 agencies for our review:
* GSA;
* USPS;
* USDA:
- U.S. Forest Service;
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and:
- Natural Resources Conservation Service;
* DHS:
- Customs and Border Protection;
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and:
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA);
* DOI:
- Fish and Wildlife Service;
- National Park Service, and:
- Bureau of Land Management; and:
* DOJ:
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI);
- Drug Enforcement Administration, and:
- U.S. Marshals Service.
We reviewed laws, regulations and agency documents related to vehicle
fleet management, maintenance, and repair, including the Federal
Management Regulation on Motor Vehicle Management; fleet management
manuals and guidance of individual federal agencies; and the Federal
Fleet Report for fiscal year 2011,[Footnote 4] which summarizes fleet
data submitted by agencies and reported to Congress. To gain a better
understanding of the remanufacturing industry, we attended an October
2012 conference on vehicle parts remanufacturing sponsored by the
Motor and Equipment Remanufacturers Association (MERA) and toured the
factory of a MERA member that remanufacturers alternators, starters,
and generators. To obtain information from agency and commercial
garages, we conducted site visits at a USPS maintenance facility, a
GSA Maintenance Control Center (MCC) in Texas, and a commercial
facility that services GSA-leased vehicles. At one MCC, we interviewed
officials and listened to calls between GSA repair technicians and
vendors who were requesting purchase orders for government vehicles
that had been brought for repair or maintenance. We chose these sites
based on their proximity to GAO offices. The information collected
from these interviews and a non-probability sample of site visits is
not generalizable to all agency maintenance facilities or commercial
garages but provided insights about the process of making vehicle
repair decisions. We interviewed officials responsible for the vehicle
fleet at the 14 selected agencies.
We conducted this performance audit from August 2012 to March 2013 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe the
evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and
conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Summary:
The 14 agencies we reviewed have vehicle repair processes that
generally allow field office staff, such as the vehicle operator or
local fleet manager, to make vehicle maintenance and repair decisions.
These processes neither mandate nor prohibit the use of remanufactured
parts. The agencies we reviewed generally do not keep data on the
extent to which remanufactured parts are used. Agency officials from
the 14 agencies in our review said that they use remanufactured parts
when warranted, and we observed the presence of remanufactured parts
in the stock rooms during our visits to repair facilities. Deciding
when to use remanufactured parts, according to agency officials and
related guidance, depends on a number of factors including the cost,
availability, and reliability of the part. According to agency
officials, these factors are considered on a case-by-case basis for
each repair to yield the best value for the federal government.
Background:
Despite the common use of the term "federal fleet," there is no single
entity responsible for managing all of the approximately 588,000
vehicles that federal civilian agencies own. Instead, each agency is
responsible for managing its own fleet. Agencies may own vehicles or
lease them from GSA Fleet[Footnote 5] or the commercial sector.
Although some federal agencies, such as USPS, may have a single,
centralized fleet of vehicles, the fleets of other agencies, such as
the four departments in our review, are decentralized and dispersed
among multiple sub-agencies, bureaus, or divisions. See table 1 for
more information on each of these agencies' fleets.
Table 1: Characteristics of the Largest Civilian Agency-Owned Vehicle
Fleets for Fiscal Year 2011:
Selected agencies: GSA Fleet-leasing program;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 199,729;
Average age[B]: 3.5[C].
Selected agencies: U.S. Postal Service;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 209,684;
Average age[B]: 16.3.
Selected agencies: Department of Agriculture;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 36,183;
Average age[B]: 5.2.
Selected agencies: Department of Agriculture; U.S. Forest Service;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 18,559.
Selected agencies: Department of Agriculture; Natural Resources
Conservation Service;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 9,184.
Selected agencies: Department of Agriculture; Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 4,742.
Selected agencies: Department of Homeland Security;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 48,917;
Average age[B]: 4.0.
Selected agencies: Department of Homeland Security; Customs and Border
Protection;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 27,216.
Selected agencies: Department of Homeland Security; Immigration and
Customs Enforcement;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 13,274.
Selected agencies: Department of Homeland Security; Federal Emergency
Management Agency;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 1,062.
Selected agencies: Department of Justice;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 38,787;
Average age[B]: 4.4.
Selected agencies: Department of Justice; Federal Bureau of
Investigation;
[Empty];
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 18,968;
[Empty].
Selected agencies: Department of Justice; Drug Enforcement
Administration;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 6,974.
Selected agencies: Department of Justice; U.S. Marshals Service;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 4,573.
Selected agencies: Department of the Interior;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 23,844;
Average age[B]: 6.8.
Selected agencies: Department of the Interior; Fish and Wildlife
Service;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 6,860.
Selected agencies: Department of the Interior; National Park Service;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 6,839.
Selected agencies: Department of the Interior; Bureau of Land
Management;
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 3,902.
Total selected agencies:
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 557,144.
Remaining civilian agencies:
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 31,137.
Total:
Agency-owned fleet inventory[A]: 588,281.
Source: GAO analysis of 2011 Federal Fleet Report and data reported to
FAST by agencies.
[A] Inventory for USPS and the four departments includes only agency-
owned vehicles, not commercially leased and GSA-leased vehicles. The
GSA Fleet inventory includes vehicles leased to both civilian and
military agencies. We included the vehicles leased to military
agencies because the vehicles are owned by GSA.
[B] Average age is only for agency-owned vehicles, not the agency's
commercially leased or GSA-leased vehicles.
[C] This number is approximate. The actual average age is 3.45 but we
rounded to 3.5 years.
[End of table]
GSA's Office of Government-wide Policy establishes fleet management
policies for the federal government and issues guidance to help
agencies manage their fleets effectively and meet federal
requirements. GSA issues guidance primarily through its Guide to
Federal Fleet Management. According to the Guide, "the challenge of
any fleet maintenance process is to mix the principal requirements for
achieving fleet maintenance--facilities and equipment, mechanic labor,
parts, cross-sharing, and commercially contracted or outsourced
services--in order to maximize vehicle reliability, safety,
availability, and operating performance while minimizing labor, parts,
and contracted service expenditures." Decisions about vehicle repair
are one aspect of the fleet maintenance challenge.[Footnote 6]
Vehicle Repair Decisions Are Decentralized and May Include Use of
Remanufactured Parts:
The fleet management policies and guidance of the 14 selected agencies
generally give local field offices the decision-making
responsibilities for vehicle maintenance and repair. Decision-making
within the repair process is typically delegated to the vehicle
operator, local field office, or fleet manager. Departmental and
agency-level policies provide guidance to help local officials manage
their fleets; however, the policies neither mandate nor prohibit the
use of either remanufactured or new replacement parts.
Field staff of the selected agencies generally follow a common repair
process for their agency-owned vehicles[Footnote 7]--a process similar
to the one individuals follow when repairing a personally-owned
vehicle, as described below. A major decision point within the repair
process is tied to whether a vehicle is covered by the manufacturer's
warranty. Also, field staff may have the opportunity to choose whether
new or remanufactured parts are used.
* Identify vehicle problems: When a vehicle operator has a problem
with the assigned vehicle, the operator takes it to a garage, either
an in-house, agency-owned garage or a commercial garage. A mechanic
may also find a problem during regularly scheduled preventive
maintenance or other repairs.
* Vehicle warranty in effect: If the vehicle is under the
manufacturer's warranty, the field staff are to generally take the
vehicle to a dealership or a garage that is authorized to perform
warranty work in order to maintain the vehicle's warranty and have the
work performed at no cost to the government. Manufacturer's warranties
specify what types of repairs are covered. Some warranties allow the
dealerships and authorized garages to use remanufactured parts for
repairs. For example, one agency provided us with the warranties for
three of its vehicles, and we found all of them allowed the use of
remanufactured parts.
* Vehicle warranty has expired: If the vehicle manufacturer's warranty
has expired, the garage is to determine what repairs are needed and
give the operator a repair estimate. If the garage is in-house, the
mechanic or other agency staff may choose new or remanufactured
replacement parts.[Footnote 8] If a commercial garage is used for
repair, the garage may provide field staff the opportunity to choose a
new or remanufactured replacement part.
* Approval of repair work: The operator or a supervisor reviews the
estimate and approves the repair work. Agencies impose thresholds on
the dollar amount of repair estimates, which, if exceeded, must be
approved by a supervisor or another agency official. The threshold
varies among agencies. For example, commercial garages servicing GSA
Fleet vehicles call GSA's MCC for approval of repairs over $100. The
Drug Enforcement Administration's supervisory approval threshold is
$250. DHS's Immigration and Customs Enforcement and FEMA, for example,
require supervisory approval for repairs over $2,500, and some other
agencies do so for repairs over $3,000.
* The garage performs the repair, returns the vehicle to the operator,
and the agency pays the bill.
Some agencies have in-house garages, such as USPS, FBI, and DHS's
Customs and Border Protection; however, they may use commercial
garages for some maintenance and repair work. Other agencies, such as
GSA, use commercial garages for all, or almost all, of their
maintenance and repair needs. For agencies that use both in-house and
commercial garages for vehicle repairs, the decision to use a
commercial or in-house garage is affected by factors such as the
proximity of the vehicle to an in-house garage, the workload of the in-
house garage, and whether a vehicle is under the manufacturer's
warranty.
Agency officials from all 14 agencies told us that they use
remanufactured parts to maintain and repair their vehicle fleets,
including starters, alternators, brake calipers,[Footnote 9] engines,
and transmissions. While the agencies track maintenance costs for
vehicles in their inventory, officials from 13 agencies--all except
GSA--said they do not keep data on the extent to which they use
remanufactured parts. GSA officials stated that GSA Fleet tracks the
number of remanufactured parts used, but its information system
understates the number because commercial vendors do not always
indicate if a part is remanufactured. According to GSA officials, GSA
is working to improve its data collection efforts by reviewing the
information system's coding list to ensure its accuracy. Officials
also stated that GSA is requiring additional training for its MCC
employees to help ensure that when they enter data on repairs, they
capture information on the use of remanufactured parts. Officials at
the GSA MCC we visited told us that remanufactured parts, if used,
were included in the coding list under "rebuilt."[Footnote 10]
The opportunity to use more remanufactured parts increases as vehicles
age and vehicle parts begin to wear out. This opportunity differs
significantly for the two largest fleets in our review--USPS and GSA
Fleet--which collectively account for about 70 percent of the vehicles
owned by civilian agencies. As was shown in table 1, USPS, with close
to 210,000 vehicles in 2011, has the oldest average age of vehicles at
16.3 years.[Footnote 11] According to officials, USPS uses many
remanufactured parts to maintain and repair its vehicles, particularly
transmissions and engines. Figure 1 shows an example of a
remanufactured transmission being removed from a common USPS vehicle;
it is to be replaced with another remanufactured transmission. On the
other hand, GSA officials stated that because GSA Fleet's 200,000
vehicles are relatively young, averaging about 3.5 years, they require
few repairs and rarely require expensive repairs, such as replacing
engines or transmissions.
Figure 1: A Removed Remanufactured Transmission at a USPS Vehicle
Maintenance Facility:
[Refer to PDF for image: photograph]
Source: GAO.
[End of figure]
Agencies Consider Multiple Factors When Deciding Whether to Use New or
Remanufactured Parts:
Agency officials from the 14 selected agencies stated that field staff
consider a number of factors when deciding whether to use new or
remanufactured parts and do so on a case-by-case basis for each repair
to yield the best value for the federal government.[Footnote 12] The
factors include:
* Availability of the part: Some parts may be immediately available
while others could take days to arrive, a situation that could delay
the vehicle's return to service and result in down-time for agency
field staff.
* Costs: Agency officials said they consider the cost of the
replacement part, the cost to ship it, and the cost of labor to
install it. If the cost difference between a new and remanufactured
part is small and the remanufactured part needs to be shipped, it
could ultimately make the remanufactured part more expensive than a
new part that does not require shipping.
* Expected remaining useful life of the vehicle: Agency officials said
that they try to spend the least amount possible for a vehicle's
repair if they know that they will soon dispose of the vehicle.
* Reliability of the part: Agencies rely on mechanics to use their
personal experiences and knowledge to help inform their decisions on
choosing the brands of remanufactured parts with which they have had
the greatest success in the past.
* Length of warranty: The length of warranty for both new and
remanufactured parts vary and may influence which replacement part is
chosen.
Agency officials and commercial vendors provided several examples of
using these factors to determine which parts to purchase. Cost of the
part, of course, drives many decisions. In one example, a commercial
vendor that works on GSA Fleet and other federal agency vehicles
stated that when replacing an alternator for a Bluebird passenger bus,
a remanufactured alternator cost about $850 and came with a 12-month/
12,000-mile warranty, whereas a new alternator cost about $1,300 with
a similar warranty. The commercial vendor chose the remanufactured
alternator to repair the vehicle because of the part's lower cost and
comparable warranty. In another example, a National Park Service
official offered this scenario: If the Service needed an alternator
for one of its fleet trucks and had a choice of either a
remanufactured part for about $135 with a non-transferable lifetime
warranty or a new part that the vehicle manufacturer made for about
$426 with the manufacturer's warranty, the Service would choose the
remanufactured part because it offered an acceptable warranty and
significant cost savings. In yet another example, we listened to a
telephone conversation in which a GSA MCC technician instructed a
commercial vendor who was repairing a 2007 truck to use a
remanufactured starter that cost about $206, rather than a new starter
that cost about $360.
While several agency officials told us that the cost of a replacement
part is an important factor in determining which type to use, they
also stated that there are instances in which other factors, such as
the cost of labor, part availability, remaining vehicle useful life,
and part reliability can be more important. For example, officials
from three agencies--USPS, GSA, and FBI--explained that if the
installation of a relatively inexpensive part is expected to be labor-
intensive, new parts are sometimes selected to avoid the cost
associated with the risk of reinstalling the part if the
remanufactured part fails prematurely. FEMA officials provided an
example in which they stated that part availability is an important
factor if the vehicle is critical to FEMA's mission or is a one-of-a-
kind asset. If it takes three weeks to get a remanufactured part, but
a new part is readily available, FEMA officials said they would
purchase the new part, even if it were more expensive, to get the
vehicle operational and back on the road as soon as possible. In an
example related to remaining useful vehicle life, FBI officials
discussed a repair scenario in which one of its vehicles had an
expected remaining useful life of 6 years and needed its water pump
replaced. In this case, they said that they would consider the
replacement part's warranty and cost. If a new water pump cost $92 and
had a lifetime warranty, while a remanufactured water pump cost $30
and had a 3-year warranty, then FBI officials would most likely select
the new, more expensive water pump because of its lifetime warranty,
extensive labor time associated with the repair, and the FBI's plan to
use that vehicle for 6 more years. In an example of part reliability's
importance as a factor, a GSA MCC technician and a commercial vendor
agreed to replace an alternator in a 2003 passenger bus with a
remanufactured alternator because remanufactured alternators for these
vehicles are considered more reliable than new alternators.
While remanufactured parts tend to be less expensive than comparable
new parts, some agency officials told us they have found instances in
which new parts are less expensive than remanufactured parts or are
very close in price. FBI officials provided us an example of a new
alternator with a lifetime warranty that cost $154 and a
remanufactured alternator with a 3-year warranty that cost $179. In
another instance, Fish and Wildlife Service officials told us that
they decided to use a new alternator when they found that it cost only
$5 more than the remanufactured alternator; the $5 savings from using
the remanufactured part would be lost to shipping fees once the
replaced alternator was mailed back to the remanufacturer.[Footnote 13]
Agency Comments:
We provided a draft of this report to GSA, USPS, USDA, DOI, DHS, and
DOJ for their review and comment. USPS and DOI provided written
comments expressing their agreement with the findings of our report.
USPS reiterated that it relies heavily on the remanufacturing industry
to maintain its vehicle fleet. DOI stated that it actively seeks to
control the costs of fleet maintenance and will continue to use
remanufactured parts where they are the most cost-effective solution.
USPS's and DOI's comments are reprinted in enclosures II and III,
respectively. GSA, USDA, DHS, and DOJ had no comments.
We are sending copies of this report to interested congressional
committees, the Administrator of the General Services Administration,
the Postmaster General, the Attorney General, and the Secretaries of
Agriculture, Homeland Security, and the Interior. This report will
also be available at no charge on the GAO Web site at [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov]. If you or your staff have any questions about
this report, please contact me at (202) 512-2834 or stjamesl@gao.gov.
Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public
Affairs may be found on the last page of this report. GAO staff who
made major contributions to this report are John W. Shumann (Assistant
Director), Melissa Bodeau, Jennifer Clayborne, Laura Erion, and Sam
Hinojosa.
Signed by:
Lorelei St. James:
Director:
Physical Infrastructure Issues:
Enclosures - 3:
[End of section]
Enclosure I: List of Requesters:
The Honorable Rob Portman:
Ranking Member:
Subcommittee on the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Federal Programs
and the Federal Workforce:
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Sherrod Brown:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Dan Coats:
United States Senate:
The Honorable James Inhofe:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Carl Levin:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Debbie Stabenow:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Tom Cole:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Gregg Harper:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable James Lankford:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Billy Long:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Gary Peters:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Todd Rokita:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Dennis Ross:
House of Representatives:
[End of section]
United States Postal Service:
Edward P. Phelan:
Vice President:
Delivery and Post Office Operations:
475 L'Enfant Plaza SW:
Washington. DC 25205-7017:
February 21, 2013:
Ms. Lorelei St. James:
Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G. Street, NW:
Washington, DC 20549-0001:
Dear Ms. St. James:
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments to the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) report titled Use of Remanufactured Parts
in the Federal Vehicle Fleet.
We request that our comments be included as an appendix to the report.
We would like to commend you and your team on their professional and
thorough review of Federal policies and practices as well as the
remanufacturing industry. In general, we agree with the information
stated in this report in the areas applicable to the U.S, Postal
Service (USPS).
The USPS relies heavily on the remanufacturing industry to sustain our
vehicle fleet in a cost effective manner while reducing the
consumption of our natural resources. The use of remanufactured
components in the maintenance of our fleet will continue to be a
corporate objective for the USPS.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
Edward F. Phelan:
[End of section]
Enclosure III: Department of the Interior Comments:
United States Department of the Interior:
Office of The Secretary:
Washington, DC 20240:
February 20, 2013:
Lorelei St. James, Director:
Physical Infrastructure Issues:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street, NW:
Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Ms. St. James:
The Department of the Interior (DOI) appreciates the opportunity to
review and comment on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) draft
report, GAO Report on Remanufactured Parts in the Federal Fleet —
544182 (Report no. GAO-13-316R). The decision to use remanufactured
parts is dependent on many factors including the availability and
reliability of parts, associated costs, and performance. Independent
vehicle service providers and mechanics also play a crucial role in
the use of remanufactured parts.
The Department concurs with GAO's determinations. The findings
outlined in the draft report are consistent with accepted acquisition
practices employed throughout DOI. DOI strives to use remanufactured
parts when they are available and their use meets or exceeds mission
requirements. When practical, the use of remanufactured automobile
parts provides an avenue for potential savings to the government
without sacrificing vehicle performance or mission delivery.
DOI actively seeks to control the costs of fleet maintenance and will
continue to use remanufactured parts where they are the most cost
effective solution. If you have questions or need additional
information, please contact Willie Davis, Office of Acquisition and
Property Management, at (202) 513-7541 or by e-mail at willie
davis@ios.doi.gov.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
Rhea S. Suh:
Assistant Secretary — Policy, Management and Budget:
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] Agencies annual maintenance and repair costs are published in the
Federal Fleet Report. The General Services Administration provided GAO
with its fiscal year 2011 maintenance and repair costs for the GSA
Fleet.
[2] Federal Acquisition Regulation §52.211-5.
[3] U.S. International Trade Commission, Remanufactured Goods: An
Overview of the U.S. and Global Industries, Markets, and Trade,
Investigation No. 332-525, USITC Publication 4356 (October 2012).
[4] The Federal Fleet Report is updated annually and available on
GSA's website at [hyperlink, http://gsa.gov/portal/category/102859].
[5] GSA Fleet is a vehicle-leasing program for federal agencies, and
maintenance and repair are managed by GSA.
[6] We are currently examining agencies' overall efforts to manage
their vehicle fleets and expect to issue the results of our review
later this year.
[7] For vehicles that agencies lease from GSA Fleet, GSA Fleet
provides maintenance and repairs, among other services.
[8] According to agencies with in-house garages, with the exception of
USPS, these garages do not stock inventories or they stock limited
inventories that include items such as oil filters, brake pads, hoses,
belts, and inventories may include remanufactured parts. However,
these agencies generally obtain parts from available sources on an as
needed basis. USPS's in-house garages maintain inventories that
include both new and remanufactured parts.
[9] Brake calipers squeeze the brake pads against the surface of the
brake rotor to slow or stop the vehicle.
[10] MCC officials stated that relatively few calls involve rebuilt or
remanufactured parts. For example, officials told us that on January
8, 2013, 15 out of 1,037 purchase orders that day were coded under
rebuilt.
[11] Many of USPS's delivery vehicles are custom-built to USPS
specifications.
[12] The U.S. International Trade Commission reported similar
findings, stating that numerous factors affect the demand of
remanufactured vehicle parts, including the age of the U.S. motor
vehicle fleet, the cost and availability of substitute products,
component reliability, vehicle warranties, and the degree of
consumer's cost consciousness. U.S. International Trade Commission.
Remanufactured Goods: An Overview of the U.S. and Global Industries,
Markets, and Trade, Investigation No. 332-525, USITC Publication 4356
(October 2012).
[13] When a vehicle is repaired, the old or failed part that was
replaced is called a "core." A core charge is sometimes added to the
cost of a replacement part and can be refunded to the customer when
the failed part is sent back to the remanufacturer to begin the
remanufacturing process.
[End of section]
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